God's Unexpected Moves

"See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:19

Throughout human history God has done many new and unexpected things in order to draw people to him. Many of the great revivals started as a result of prayer meetings and often among young people. 

One of those unexpected things is depicted in the move "Jesus Revolution" staring Kelsey Grammer as Pastor Chuck Smith. 

The movie depicts the true story of how Pastor Smith opened the doors of his church, Calvary Chapel, to hippies in the 1960's. It was messy and uncomfortable for many of those who attended the church but it started a movement that spread widely and many of the hippies traded their addictions for a relationship with Jesus. 

I have noticed a trend. My observations are not based on hard data but it seems to me that many people who are deciding to become Jesus followers are not necessarily interested in attending church. These same people are desirous to meet in groups in homes, coffee shops and other spaces to talk about Jesus and how to grow in their relationship with him. 

During Covid we discovered that most churches had not done a very good job of discipleship because almost all forms of church activity ceased. By our actions, we Jesus followers, shouted to the world that we had become irrelevant and we preferred to isolate from the community rather than engage. I know this is a harsh criticism and not true in all cases but I believe it has contributed to the problem of new Jesus followers not valuing church attendance. 

I wonder what new thing God is going to do to make church attractive to a new crop of Jesus followers? Will churches adapt their programs to attract these new people? I am not sure we even know what would need to change. 

One thing I do know, there is a massive amount of material available for mentoring and discipling new believers outside of church walls. Unfortunately, not all the material is available in enough languages. Among the options is the discipleship material that is produced by Foundations 4 Living (F4L).